Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- extended its losses for seventh consecutive day. Index made a negative start and slipped further, as traders were concerned after latest central bank data showed that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) foreign exchange reserves declined by $5.7 billion to an 11-week low of $561.27 billion in the week ended February 17. In afternoon session, market continued to trade lower, as sentiments remained downbeat with RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Jayanth R Varma’s statement that India's Gross domestic product (GDP) growth appears to be 'very fragile' and it may fall short of what the country needs to meet the aspirations of its growing workforce. Some concern also came as the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its report for January 2023 stated that as many as 335 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs 4.46 lakh crore.
However, in final hours of trade, index trimmed some of its losses, as traders took some support with Union minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the country would become the third largest economy in the world (from fifth position at present) in the next five years and by 2047 could be at the level the United States of America is at present. He added the 1.4 billion people of India are going to make the economy a $30-40 trillion one. Some support came with Union Minister Jitendra Singh’s statement that the Government will promote Industry-driven Start-Ups to create wealth and jobs.
Traders were seen piling positions in Realty, Bank and Private Bank, while selling was witnessed in Media, Metal and IT. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank and Power Grid Corporation of India. On the other hand, the top losers were Adani Enterprises, Mphasis and Zee Entertainment Enterprises. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 17900 -18100 calls and 16900 -17100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 2.18% and reached 13.88. The 50 share Nifty down by 73.10 points or 0.42% to settle at 17,392.70.
Nifty March 2023 futures closed at 17509.00 (LTP) on Monday, at a premium of 116.30 points over spot closing of 17392.70, while Nifty April 2023 futures ended at 17609.00 (LTP), at a premium of 216.30 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 22,572 units, taking the total outstanding open interest (Contracts) to 2,32,491 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 29, 2023. (Provisional)
From the most active contracts, Adani Enterprises March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 7.45 points at 1195.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1187.55. The numbers of contracts traded were 39,992. (Provisional)
Reliance Industries March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 9.25 points at 2374.30 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2365.05. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,697. (Provisional)
HDFC Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 8.45 points at 1607.10 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1598.65. The numbers of contracts traded were 27,544. (Provisional)
ICICI Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 3.80 points at 861.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 857.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,556. (Provisional)
Kotak Mahindra Bank March 2023 futures traded at a premium of 11.05 points at 1738.90 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1727.85. The numbers of contracts traded were 19,503. (Provisional)
Among, Nifty calls, 17500 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 4,555 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 17000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 2,042 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 18000 SP (56,560 units) and that for Puts was at 17000 SP (95,531 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 17463.20 -- Pivot Point 17381.10 -- Support 17310.60.
The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.35) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Honeywell Automation India (2.84), Metropolis Healthcare (1.63), IPCA Laboratories (1.28), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (1.09) and Balrampur Chini Mills (1.04).
Among most active underlying, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 1,361 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 5,784 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 3,614 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and Kotak Mahindra Bank witnessed a contraction of 443 units of Open Interest in the March month futures. (Provisional)
